{"sf1_id":651099,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Reboot","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2924,"posted_at":"2014-01-18T17:13:00.000Z","tags":["Human","M/F","Story Progression"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/651099-reboot","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/651099","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=651099\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#30 of Robbin Red","content":"      Jon-Tom came home a week later. He\ngave his wife a kiss, but it was cold and distant. He said very little the\nentire day. When nighttime came she had hoped for little closeness and was\ndisappointed by his aloofness. She didn't pester him, understanding that\nsomething terrible had happened. She was learning not to intrude on his\nthoughts, just like he preferred not to intrude on others. The only thing he did\nwas to tell Doteroll that his daughter was safe and to spellsing him back to\nhis home.\nShe didn't sleep well that night.\nDespite this, she must have dozed for a while, because when the light of\nmorning came, and with it her change, he was gone. There was no cloak, no\npants, no shirt, no staff and no duar. All he left was note. She could make no\nsense of it whatsoever, considering that her experience in this world was\nlimited. What she read was this.\nDear\nSybeele and to whomever else reads this,\nI am so tired.\nI have been fighting it for a long time, and just when I think I'm on the\nuphill slope, I find myself rolling back down again. I cannot continue on this\nway. While there is much that I have done that brings a smile to my face, there\nis much that I have done that tears at my heart. I have seen more happiness and\nsadness, joy and cruelty, pleasure and pain; and it has filled me up beyond my\ncapacity to contain anymore. I need to let go. I need a reset button.\nTherefore, I am setting out on what I hope is my final crusade. I intend to\nwipe out the very reason I was brought over to this world by my old mentor\nClothahump. If I can do that, then I will make up for everything I did since\ncoming here. It will give me my life back and at the same time, hopefully wipe\nout all my memories of the past. You need not wish me well on this quest, but I\nwish it to all of you.\nJonathon\nThomas Merriweather. \n \nEve read it and gasped. \"He wouldn't! He\ncouldn't! It goes against everything he stands for!\"\nSybeele was still in need of enlightening.\n\"What wouldn't he do?\"\nEve sat her down. \"My dear, what he\nintends to do, unless I am gravely mistaken, is to remove the reason for his\npurpose in being called over. I had a small part in that, pushing Clothahump's\npower to snag him from his own world, the same world that you come from. The\nwizard was looking for someone to help him defeat the Plated Folk, which I must\nadmit is part of the life on my world that has evolved rather poorly.\"\nThe girl scratched her head. \"But from\nwhat I have heard, removing them would be a good thing, wouldn't it?\"\nEve patted her arm. \"Yes, I suppose so,\nbut you fail to see what he is trying to do. If he goes now and wipes them out,\nthere will be no need for him in the future. If that happens, Clothahump won't\npull him over. If he isn't pulled over, then nothing that he has done will\nhappen, including getting lost in time and ending up falling to your rescue.\nFor that matter, he will not be there to rescue me. I'm afraid I over-estimated\nhis resiliency. He appears to be falling apart. Something recent must have\npushed him over the edge. Any clues as to what that might be?\"\n\"He went to Cottia to save them from\ninvaders. As far as I know, he was successful. But he refused to discuss it. He\ngot up in the middle of the night and left with all his gear. I just don't\nknow!\" She broke down in tears.\n\"Cottia? Cottia had nothing to do with\nany of my plans! Why did he go there; to repel invaders you say?\"\n\"Yes. We found a sick and starving\nperson from that village. Jon-Tom went to investigate. He was gone about a week\nbefore suddenly showing up again. Outside of that, I don't know what happened.\"\n\"Then we need to go to Cottia. The\nanswer must be there. But we won't have much time. Once he fulfills his\nmission, everything will snap. The timeline is presently quite fragile after\nall of the stress it has taken with his falling through twice now. Alma had no\nbusiness in snagging onto my tether. If I could get my hands on her, I'd slap\nher silly. If we don't stop him, I have no idea what the full consequences will\nbe.\"\nSybeele broke down completely. \"Do you\nmean that instead of saving me, I'll be exposed to those men who were trying to\nkill me?\"\n\"Kill you? I doubt that was on their\nmind at the time. Good men are hard to find. Jon-Tom was one of the best, and I\nthink I abused his good nature. I need to link with him and have a talk.\" But\ntry as she might, she could make no contact with him. It was as if he was\nalready gone from the world.  This wasn't\ngoing to be easy. She knew where he was headed, but not the route. He could\ntake any number of paths. She had to hope he was heading to Zaryt's Teeth. It\nwas a logical choice, but not the only one.\nEve put her hand on Sybeele's shoulder.\nAn instant later they were in Cottia. It was quiet. The silence was made even\nmore eerie by the spots of dried blood on the paving stones. \"We had better\nfind out who's running this place.\" Eve directed them to the center of town. It\nwas a grisly sight. There, stuck to poles, where a variety of ugly looking\nanimals. A few were alive, but only barely. Sybeele spoke what Eve was\nthinking.\n\"I think I'm going to be sick.\"\nThey found the mayor in his office. He\nlooked surprised to see visitors. \"Excuse me ladies, but how did you get into\ntown? We are on a lockdown until we get our situation straightened out. Or\nperhaps you didn't notice the criminals on your way in?\"\n\"We did, and we found it\ndisturbing!\"\n\"So do we, ladies. If you had any\nidea what those bastards did to us, you might find our punishment to be an act\nof kindness. There is only one who has escaped this punishment. It was not my\ndecision. It was another who decided her fate. Her punishment seems unusual to\nme, but if it works out to our advantage, then I accept it.\"\n\"Her fate? A female? Who is she,\nand more importantly, where is she?\"\n\"She's presently helping to repair\nsome of the property damage caused by our invaders. You can't miss her; she's\nthe only other human in town besides you two. You relation of hers or\nsomething?\"\nEve pondered that for a moment.\n\"Human? Like the male that was here recently?\"\n\"Yes, I suppose you could say that.\nHe was a strange one, that. He waded in and freed us from the stranglehold\nthese thugs had on us.  This lady helped\ntoo, though as far as I understand, she had something to do with them taking over.\nThey were both pretty mum about it. All he would say was that she would live\nout her life here helping out the people of Cottia in any way she could. The\nman seemed honest, so I didn't question his judgment.\"\n\"Jon-Tom! It had to be him. Now who\nis this lady?\"\nThe orang made a face. \"I didn't\nhear the name you just mentioned. He called himself Aiden Drake. Said he was\nthe mayor of Hobarrow.\"\nSybeele nodded. \"Yes, he is. And\nhe's also my husband. He's gone missing and we're looking for him. Do you have\nany idea what happened here that might have pushed him over the edge?\"\nBefore he could answer, another\nvoice interrupted. \"I might.\"\nThe ladies turned to see a lovely\nwoman with long white hair. \"I believe it was me who overwhelmed him. Come with\nme and I'll tell you what I know.\" They found an empty room and occupied three chairs\nwithin. Alma told her story as best as she was able. The other two pelted her\nwith questions, but none as shrewd as Eve's.\n\"What happened to all your hatred\nand anger?\"\n\"It just melted away. It was as if\nthe sun was melting ice; I could literally feel it wash away from my soul.\nSometimes I wish he wouldn't have, for the pain of what I have done stands out\nin sharp relief now. On top of that, he did one more thing.\" She lowered her\neyes \"He has made me with child.\"\nThe other two just gaped at her. It\nwasn't as if he wasn't prone to doing things like this, but why, if he intended\nto rewrite history, would he have bothered? But that in itself was a clue. If\nhe reset time, then none of this would ever happen in the manner in which it\ndid, so he could whatever he wanted with impunity. Ultimately, wiping out the\nPlated Folk would go against his morals. Eve knew he still hated them for what\nthey had one to Talea, but the wholesale slaughter of them without warning\nseemed beyond his morals. Yet, if he wiped hem out, it would reset time to before\nhe was pulled over. He wouldn't remember any of it.\n\"I think that your hatred and anger\ndidn't just melt away. I think he absorbed it. His healing ability is greater\nthan he recognizes. I have seen the depths of his darkness. I even let it loose\nonce. I can only imagine what he is like now on his inside. At this point, I am\nunsure if stopping him would be the right thing to do. But if he does this\nthing, I cannot say what the repercussions will be. Whether he wants to believe\nit or not, he is an integral part of this world, and undoing what he has accomplished\nwill likely throw it into ruin. We must find him!\" \n\"I would be happy to come, but he\nhas forbidden me to leave here. I was thinking that maybe I could talk him out\nof it.  We did have some good times\ntogether, even if they were on his world. One day with him here was hardly\nenough.\"\nEve got to thinking. What Alma said\nwas true enough. He was dwelling now on the bad and the awful. There was plenty\nof that. But there was a lot of love, kindness and beauty as well. He needed to\nbe shown these things. She simply needed a plan as to how to get these concepts\nthrough to him. There was a sudden flash that made her head spin. She wasn't\ncertain if it was inspiration or the sign of something far worse. Only time\nwould tell.\nJonathon opened his eyes. The light\nwas coming into his dorm room from the morning sun. He rubbed his aching orbs,\ngrinding out the crust that had built up overnight. That had been one hell of a\nparty.  He could still smell aroma from\nthe joints he had smoked. He went to sit up and his head went wonky. \"Damn!\"\nHe tried again, sitting upright\nwith difficulty. His whole body felt like he had aged a lifetime overnight. He\ntried focusing his eyes. The letters R, U, S, H, stood out from the poster on his\nwall. What a great concert that had been! He dug his toes into the old shag\ncarpeting on the floor. It tickled his feet. With a sigh, he hauled himself up\nand headed to the john. He really needed to take a piss!\nHe mumbled greetings to his fellow\nstudents as he wandered down the hall. He unloaded himself and stopped to look\nin the mirror. He stared at the figure staring back. Damn, he thought to\nhimself. I'm not too bad looking even with bloodshot eyes. I probably should do\nsomething with my hair though. He went back to his quarters to grab his towel\nand shampoo. He cleaned himself up, groomed his appearance until he was\nsatisfied and went back to his room to find some fresh clothes. \nNeedless to say, he was surprised\nwhen he found his room occupied. It was a she, and she was looking out the window.\n\"Can I help you?\" he asked tentatively\nThe tall beauty turned and smiled. \"Hey\nyou! I thought the room number you gave me last night was a fake. Your hall\nmates assured me you were real enough. You said so many nice things last night\nI wanted to see if you were just high, or if you really meant them.\"\nHis mind went numb for a moment before\nkicking into overdrive. He knew this girl! He couldn't remember the party very\nwell, but this girl he had seen on campus. He knew her name and he knew her\nface. He had it etched in his mind. Her name was Flora. And she was beautiful!\n\"Uh, I don't remember much about\nlast night. I got pretty disjointed from my personal reality. If I said\nanything to piss you off, I'm sorry.\"\nShe smiled in a reassuring way. \"Hmmm.\nMaybe it was just the drugs. You\nspouted such lovely poetry too!\"\nOh dear. What had he said? What\nkind of fool had he been? \"Poetry? I dabble in poetry and song lyrics but I don't\nremember reciting any poetry last night.\"\nShe pulled out a piece of scrap\npaper. \"You wrote this last night while I watched.\"\nHe took it and read the following. \nYour\neyes shine into my soul,\nA beacon\nto light my way,\nYou're\nthe half that makes my whole,\nI need\nyou every day.\nOn bended\nknee I ask you this,\nTo be\nmy lifelong mate,\nAnd\nlive in wedded bliss,\nMy passions\nyours to sate.\nHe cringed. He could hardly ever get\nhimself steeled to talk with this girl, and last night he had audaciously proposed\nwith a poem. The crazy thing was, she was here! In his room! \n\"Uh, yea I guess I wrote that.\nSorry about that. I mean, I think you're great and everything, but I didn't mean\nto propose marriage to you.\"\nShe looked him square in the eye. \"I\nsee. So you don't want to marry me?\"\nHe trembled a little. \"I'm not\nsaying that. I just only know you by your looks and that isn't enough.\"\n\"So, you don't like my looks?\"\nHe was ready to give up in defeat.\nApparently he could only talk coherently around her when he was drunk or\nstoned; preferably both. \"Dammit Flora, I like you a lot. I just didn't think you'd\nhave anything to do with me! You're on the cheerleader squad and I'm just a\nloser who has no idea what he wants to be when he finishes college. I think you're\nbeautiful!\"\n\"That's better! It seems to me that\nlast night you were looking past my skin. I hope that just wasn't the drugs talking.\"\nHe rubbed his eyes again, in part\nto make certain she was real. She was still standing there staring at him. \"I\ndid do a lot of drugs last night, but my words were true. It's just hard for me\nto say them face to face.\"\n\"That's fine with me. Talk is cheap\nmister.\" She was unbuttoning her blouse. He went wide eyed for just a moment.\nHe had enough sense to close the door to his room. Flora was watching the bulge\ngrow under his towel. \"Well senor, I see you weren't kidding in that category either.\nMen usually brag up their goods, but I don't think you did yours justice. She\nreached forward and plucked the towel from his hands. \"Ooooh, would you look at\nthat? Grande! Mucho grande! Esto será como montar un caballo!!\"\nHe had no idea what she had just\nsaid, but it sounded liked she was pretty happy. He figured all of the jocks\nwere better hung than he, but maybe it was all bluff and bravado. As for Flora,\nshe had her blouse off and was undoing her bra. It was a front clasp. When it\ncame undone, two of the most perfect tan orbs popped out, topped with brownish pink\nnipples. His hard-on got a little harder.\nShe wiggled out of her jeans and\ndropped them on the floor. Her panties were next. She wasted no time in dragging\nhim down onto his disheveled bed. \"Dámelo chico grande!\" He wasn't sure what\nthat meant, but he had an idea, especially when she opened her legs wide and\nclamped them over his back. He drilled her hard. She yelped just a tiny bit as\nhe entered her. \"Ahora sé cómo se siente ser la yegua!\"\nHe excitedly pushed it in as far as\nit would go. He didn't have the guts to tell her this was his first time. Yet,\nin the back of his head, it seemed vaguely familiar. He went at it like a natural.\nHe pounded away like there was no tomorrow. He didn't even flinch when her\nscreams of pleasure reached an ear splitting level. Hell, let the other guys\nget jealous of him for once. College as finally looking up!"}